SCHOOLS 



time, and an application was made to the crown ; l the result being that 

 James was ousted, and a patent was issued to William Matthews of Repton 

 School and Magdalen Hall, Oxford, about 1756. He was succeeded by his 

 stepson, John Washbourn, about 1774. In his time for many years there 

 was not a single free scholar in the school; not as Rudder* explains, because 

 Washbourn was incapable, or because the people did not care for education, 

 but they sent their children elsewhere. Dr. Washbourn considered boarders 

 from the country more profitable than town scholars, who were accordingly 

 discouraged, and the few that did offer themselves, besides being made to pay 

 quite otherwise than free scholars used to pay, were by him excluded from 

 the free school seats at church, and put upon a very different footing from 

 the boarding scholars, who numbered between 20 and 30. Umbrage was 

 taken at this, and about 1780 the churchwardens began to charge him the 

 same price for sittings as they charged other persons. In 1783 Dr. Wash- 

 bourn dismissed all his boarders. 8 He seems to have returned to Oxford, as 

 he was vice-president of Magdalen in 1786, dean of divinity next year, 

 and in 1797 bursar. Presumably he served the free scholars through an 

 usher, as he retained the mastership till his death on 23 Nov. 1805. 



The Grammar School continued on its old footing with varying fortunes 

 under Rev. J. Buckoll, 1805; Rev. Grooby, 1807; Rev. H. Wood, 1823; 

 Rev. E. Wood, 1835 ; Rev. W. Bartrum, 1851. 



When Mr. Stanton visited the school for the Schools Inquiry Com- 

 mission in 1866* he found it desirable to repeat the old statement of 

 Anthony Wood, which seems to be due to some confusion with another 

 school, that it was founded by Bishop Ruthall (of Durham) in the early part 

 of the reign of Henry VIII. We have already seen that it was founded by 

 another bishop half a century before. There is no evidence that Ruthall 

 built a schoolhouse or had anything to do with it at all. 



Mr. Stanton found the buildings old and rambling and much out of 

 repair, the trustees of Jones's charity refusing, in spite of 300 years' custom, 

 to do any. ' To put the premises in decent repair would absorb the whole 

 income for some years to come.' It is not surprising therefore that under 

 the Rev. W. Bartrum there were only 25 boys, of whom 7 were boarders. 

 ' It was about three weeks after the time for school after the Christmas 

 holidays and 3 had not yet returned.' 'The upper class of 5 boys failed 

 altogether in Latin and French . . . None understood decimals ... a few 

 had some notion of fractions.' The payments were 30 to 40 guineas a year 

 for boarders ; 4 guineas a year for day-boys. For at least five years, and 

 probably much longer, no boy had gone to the University. 



So things went on till Mr. Bartrum died in 1881. Then at last a new 

 scheme was made under the Endowed Schools Acts by which the endow- 

 ment given in 1722 by Mrs. Rebecca Powell for a Blue and Yellow School 

 was added to that of the grammar school. The old buildings in Lawditch 

 Lane were sold and new and good buildings erected in the New Road. 



1 Lord Bathurst had at a previous election tried to secure both seats for the borough for his two eldest 

 sons, he having always before been content with one seat. This had produced great irritation, and the town 

 in general was in opposition to Lord Bathurst. The calling in of the crown was a bit of retaliation 

 (Rilner MSS.). 



* Rudder's Hut. of Cirenceiter, 309. 



' Kilner MSS. * Set. Inj. Rff. IT, 60. 



395 



